Skeletons In the Closet
by Southern Spell
Summary: Why’d they take them?” “Why do you think? You stab your wife to death and see if anyone would consider you fit to raise two small kids.”
1. 16 Years

**Skeletons In the Closet**

**A/N: I know the plot has been done over and over again but in my defense the idea for this story didn't start with: 'what if Bobby had a daughter?'. No, the idea came from the question I asked myself when I first saw "Dream A Little Dream of Me": 'even with a demon possessing her, what would cause Bobby to actually stab his wife?' I figured she had to have been doing something **_**really **_**bad to push him to that point and this story just ended up being about Bobby's daughter.**

**If you're still willing to try and read this, I'm going to warn you this first part isn't something for those of you who don't like to read things about kids getting hurt. Its nothing too graphic, but just in case I'd thought I'd tell you. **

"**16 Years"**

After the day her mother died, Emma had made absolutely certain she did her best to do what was expected of her. It would almost seem childish but she had her reasons.

Fear and time had blurred the memory but it still had power over her. She knew that it was her nightmares that had colored her mother's eyes black in her memory, but her night terrors hadn't made the reality of that night any worse and the years hadn't made it any better.

She'd been seven when she had caught her mother trying to drown her little brother in the bathtub. When she'd asked what was going on their mother had turned to her and said that Chris had been bad and was being punished. Terrified Emma had fought hard for her little brother; clawing and screaming to save him. That's what had woken their father up; he had come running down the hall to and taken a horrified look and pulled their mother back. It had given Emma time to drag her crying baby brother from the tub.

Her mother hadn't stopped; she'd pushed their father out of the way with an unnatural strength and came for them again. Fingers curled to look like claws as she reached for her and her brother. Emma had pushed Chris out of reach but she'd been picked up by her hair and shoved face first into the still full bathtub.

She can remember blood mixing with the water as she struggled just before her mother let go of her and she managed to climb out of the tub. Crying, Emma had all but dragged her little brother down the hall and away from the bathroom.

She and Chris were found some time later by their father hiding in her closet, and not much longer the police arrived.

Their father wasn't convicted of murder, but he was seen as an unfit parent by the court, and Emma and Chris had been sent to live with their aunt and uncle in Mississippi. After which she never spoke another word about what happen to anyone.

************************************************************************

Emma had spent the majority of the last four years at Louisiana State University. She'd picked that college because she had always had a fascination with the city of New Orleans where it was located, and having earned a full ride thanks to her grades certainly had helped narrow down her choices.

Her family had driven down from Mississippi to watch her walk across the stage to accept her diploma. When they asked her the next day if she'd be coming back home with them she had told them about her new job lined up and the apartment she had picked out in the French Quarter. None of them had suspected that wasn't the truth because Emma was always the responsible and dependable one.

She felt increasing guilty as her little family accepted her lie without any hesitation, especially when she knew how bad it might hurt them to know the truth.

Aunt Sally, the woman who had raised her since she was seven, kissed her check and wished her luck. Then reminded her that if she needed anything, anything at all, to just call. Uncle Derek, who had done his best for her and her brother since the day they had come to his home sixteen years ago, gave her a bear hug and told her to be careful while on her own and slipped her a new can of mace for her key chain. Then her little brother, Chris, forever the rebel, gave her an awkward hug and told her that it wasn't a crime to have some fun once in awhile, especially in New Orleans.

Emma watched them pull away from the curve and waived good bye as they drove away. When they were out of sight she headed back to her dorm and packed her car up. She was out of the city an hour later, with a carefully mapped out destination that would end at a junk yard in North Dakota. She had given up waiting on her Daddy to come and explain things to her. For the sake of her sanity she needed a better understanding of that night.

*******************************************************************************************************************

Bobby cursed as he heard the knocking on his front door. He turned his wheel chair around and tried to maneuver through his house with out hitting anything. His home hadn't been designed for the handicap.

"I'm coming." He barked out as the knocking started again, when he was only feet away from the door.

He made sure his gun was in reach, propped up on the wall out of sight, before he reached forward and turned the door knob.

Standing on his porch was a dark haired young woman, who stared openly when she saw him. "Something I can do for you?" He snapped when she didn't say anything.

"Bobby Singer?" She asked ringing her hands, in an almost comical fashion. He figured by the way she was acting this girl must have a problem of the paranormal variety and she had gotten his name from somewhere. It wouldn't have been the first time this sort of thing had happen.

"Yea, now what do you want?" His social skills had never been great, but after being in a wheel chair they had only worsened.

She opened her open to say something, but nothing came out. He watched her take a deep breath and try again. "I'm…my name is Emma Singer."

**A/N: Now leave a review telling me what you think.**


	2. Devils in the Details

"**Devils in the Details**"

For the first time since leaving the hospital, Bobby was glad he was sitting down. His daughter had come home. Was this some kind of sick joke?

"I don't know if you remember me…" She nervously stammered over her words, like she was trying to find a way to explain her sudden and unexpected appearance.

"Well of course I remember you." He stared up at her stunned. It was inconceivable the little girl with big bouncing curls he remembered was the young woman standing it front of him. They couldn't be one and the same.

"I just…", he blinked as he trailed off. He'd always had wondered what she'd end up looking like, he had just guessed he'd never get to know. _No,_ he said to himself, _this can't be right. Something has to be up. _

Emma gave him a nervous smile. "Hi."

Bobby raised his eyebrows, as some sense came back to him. "What in Gods name are you doing here?"

Sally, his brother's wife, had made it very clear that he'd never see his kids again. She had believed he'd coldly killed her sister-in-law and was only trying to protect her niece and nephew. Bobby couldn't altogether blame Sally or Derek, like so much else in his life, things were never what they seemed. He'd always assumed Sally had told Emma and Chris that he'd murdered their mother. He'd figured that once they were grown they wouldn't want anything to do with him. To be honest with himself that was probably better for them anyway, what with him right in the middle of the Apocalypse and all.

She flinched and he realized that had come out harsher sounding than he'd meant. She seemed taken aback by the question and hard tone. "I just wanted… I've got some things I wanted to ask you."

She stared down at him, looking completely unsure of herself as she waited for his response, as he tried to figure out if this was some sort of trick. Devil only knew what the demons knew and what they would do with it.

"You're telling me you drove all the way from Mississippi to ask me some questions? You couldn't have just called? _Christo." _He threw in the last bit just to be safe, and let out a relieved breath when she didn't flinch.

"New Orleans. I came from New Orleans." She straightened up and raised her chin a notch but Bobby still saw the hurt look in her eyes. "Maybe this was a bad idea. I'll just go."

"No!" Bobby croaked out when she took a step back like she was going to turn around, because whatever this was he wanted to get a handle on it and if by some far off chance this really was his Emma then he didn't want to just chase her off, which he seriously doubted.

He cleared his cleared his throat and tried again. "I mean, I just wasn't expecting this. Why don't you come on in?"

Emma smiled hesitantly. "Okay."

He wheeled back and let her in, then cringed at the state the house was in. His only guests were Sam and Dean and they caused half the mess. Speaking of which he'd better get all this sorted out before tomorrow when they showed up, other wise he'd have to explain Emma to them.

Emma looked about at the once familiar home. Things had changed since they'd left. Books were stack everywhere and she pretended not to see the shot gun that had been hidden behind the door while she had been standing outside. She followed Bobby into the kitchen when he offered something to drink.

Not really convinced she was really his Emma even if she hadn't flinched over _Christo_, he tried every trick he could think of to figure out what this was really about. Bobby put holly water in her glass, asked her to hand him the silver butter knife off the table so he could put it in the sink, and on and on, all the while trying not to let on what he was doing.

Through out Emma stayed oblivious to his tricks and when she finished off the glass of holy water he was out of things to try. By that point he was beginning to believe this really was the little girl that had left him so long ago.

**A/N: Leave a review!**


	3. Welcome Home

"**Welcome Home"**

"So you're living in New Orleans?" He asked to fill the awkward silence, coming to the conclusion this really was his daughter.

Emma was sitting at the table and the sense of familiarity was their but so was the feeling of awkwardness that came with being in a place she didn't know. "Yea. Well, kind of. I just went to school there."

"New Orleans to North Dakota, that's a long ways to travel." He nodded.

"Yea." She agreed, not really knowing what else to say.

Silence fell between them again. Emma kept looking around at the kitchen that she could barely recall.

Bobby sat studying her, as he tried to brace himself for the answers she was after and come to terms that his little girl had grown up with out him. She looked like her mother, small and dark haired, big hazel eyes. It fascinated him to see her mother in her and it hurt a little too. He missed her; he missed them all. He wondered what Chris looked like, if he looked more like him or their mother.

"So…" He let the word stretch out. What did he say? Did he just start right off and tell her straight about what happen the night her mother had died? Did he lie and say she had gone insane? Or just tell her he didn't want to talk about it and send her on her way? "How's…have you had a good life? You lived with your Uncle Derek this whole time?" He decided he would start small, besides he really did want to know the answer to that first one.

She nodded, smile polite. "Yes, I have. They've been good to us."

He nodded, relieved. "Does your Uncle and Aunt know you're here?"

Emma hesitated. "No. No one does."

Bobby rubbed his unshaven jaw. "Emma," he said patiently. "I don't think you not telling them was a very good idea. They're bound to find out."

"I'm grown." She stat up straighter. "I can make these choices on my own." She surprised herself with how confident she sounded when she didn't feel that way at all. The thought of her family finding out terrified her.

"Yea, I guess you are." He nodded and for some reason he looked so sad it made her own heart clench. Bobby recovered quickly. "What about your brother? He's what seventeen now?" He knew their ages only because he hadn't been able to miss the passing of one of their birthdays even if he'd tried.

"Yea. He'll be finishing up high school soon. He wants to join the Marines after graduation but Aunt Sally is arguing that he go to college instead."

"Jesus." His youngest was almost old enough to go off and join the military and he hadn't seen him since he'd been in diapers. A moment passed. "What's he like?"

This was something she could talk about. They could ease into the hard stuff later after she'd built back up her nerve to ask. "Hard headed." She answered with a smile. "Chris is smart but he always has to do things his way. He's fearless." She chuckled a little because her little brother was the complete opposite of herself. She was cautious and shy and he was wild and a little reckless. Nothing scared him and if he wanted something then consequences be damned he'd go after it. She'd always envied him that.

"You two close?" Bobby asked.

Emma shook her head regretfully. "No, not really." They were too different. Chris had never been able to understand why she'd always put so much effort into doing what other people had thought she should. She was glad he didn't understand, in her mind that meant she had won that fight for him that night all those years ago. "We just have our own lives." She explained away.

Bobby nodded, like he understood.

"I've got a picture of him, if you'd like to see?" She opened her purse, not waiting for a response.

"Sure." He accepted the photograph from her neatly manicured hand. Chris was standing tall by the muddy Mississippi banks when the picture had been taken. The boy was more of a man and his grin was cocky with an intelligent spark in his eyes. His hair was a lighter brown than his sisters, matching Bobby's when he'd been younger. Emma and Chris didn't look alike really but they both had the same eyes, the same hazel mix that made up his own. They had his eyes.

"It's the newest one I have of him. I took it while I was home for Christmas." A pause. "You can keep it if you'd like."

Bobby indented to hand it back to her and say thanks anyway. He really didn't need the reminder hanging around, but changed his mind at the last second. "Thanks." He cleared his throat of the lump that formed their. "Does he…?"

A beat passed and he still couldn't bring himself to ask.

"Remember?" She said quietly.

Bobby nodded.

Emma shook her head. "No. Not you. Not that night or her." She wondered what Chris would think if he knew she'd lied and come here. Would he be angry and take it as some kind of betrayal or would he want the chance to talk to their father too?

He nodded. Bobby wasn't surprised, his son had been young the last time he'd seen him. It still stung though.

"He's asked about you." She offered.

He raised an eye brow. "Yea?" He wondered if it was with good intentions that Chris had asked after him, after all he'd probably been given every reason to hate him. It was a wonder to him that Emma had come this far and wasn't accusing him of things he couldn't defend.

"Yea. Once, he was about thirteen. Made me tell him everything I remembered, well almost everything." She'd refused to talk about the night their mother had died. She'd lied and told him she hadn't been awake when it had happened. Emma didn't like being dishonest but she do anything to protect Chris.

"He doesn't know then?"

She shrugged and chose her words carefully. "He knows the basics, but I've never talked about it with him, and Aunt Sally and Uncle Derek won't talk about it." She glanced away. "I'm not even sure I know what happened."

This was it, Bobby thought, this is where the questions start A deep sigh escaped him. He was about to lie his ass off to someone who really did deserve the truth but she also deserved the right to a safe life, he reasoned with himself. "I'm not too sure myself. They told me it was some sort of mental break down. I figure that had to be it, otherwise your mama wouldn't have tried to hurt Chris or you."

Yea, she remembered that too, but she needed clarification on somethings anyway. "You stabbed her?" It was a statement framed as a question and it was blunt because she didn't know any other way to say it. She hated asking it, because it wasn't fair, but she needed to be absolutely sure.

A moment passed before he nodded. Didn't he have enough trouble sleeping at night? Did he really need to be dragged down his list of sins in the day light too? Did she hate him for doing the best he could at the time?

A long silence ate up the time, broken when the sound of a car door slamming followed by another came from the front yard.

Bobby started to curse but abruptly stopped when Emma looked at him. "Wait here." He said, as he started out the rom. He would bet his wheels those two sets of boots coming up the steps belonged to Dean and Sam.

His suspicions were confirmed when his front door was swung open with out a polite knock before hand. Dean came through first, Sam close on his heels.

"Who's Toyota?" Dean asked with a jerk of his head toward the front yard.

Bobby ignored the question. "You two weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow."

Dean shrugged. "Traffic was light."

Sam picked up on the hint. "Do we need to leave?"

"Who's the Toyota belong to? You working a case? Need a hand? Ghost, demon, or other?" Dean shrugged out of his jacket.

Again Bobby ignored Dean. "Yes, I need you to-"

"I can leave and come back later if this is a bad time." The Mississippi colored voice said from the kitchen's door way, catching the attention of the Winchester brothers.

Bobby cringed, knowing there wasn't going to be a way out of explaining this.

Both Dean and Sam looked Emma's way; neither tried to hind their curious looks.

"I guess that's your Toyota in the front yard." Dean finally getting his answer. An appealing smirk played at his mouth, making Bobby glare. "What's your name?"

"I'm Emma." She answered simply and gave a polite smile.

"Emma, huh? That's-"

"She my daughter." Bobby snapped out, effectively stopping Dean from working his tried and true charm.

Emma's face heated up as the two younger men stared at her with shock.


	4. Q & A

Q&A

Sam and Dean made a quick exist, saying they'd be back later that night. Bobby explained them away as being old friends of his and she accepted it.

Emma apologized for just dropping in on him without having called first, for not thinking about the fact that she might have been interrupting something but Bobby just waved it off.

They spent the rest of the evening with her telling him about her life and more about Chris. She hadn't expected that he'd have so many questions. When the sun started to set, he asked if she had some place to stay. She let him know which hotel she was staying at and he promised her that she could come back tomorrow and they'd talk some more. He told her he didn't want her driving on these old back roads in the dark when she wasn't familiar with the area before he sent her off.

Well after the sun had gone down and Emma had left, Dean and Sam let themselves in. They found Bobby waiting on them in the living room.

"You've got a daughter?" No preamble, just a slightly angry tone and a raised eyebrow from Dean.

"Yea, what's it to you?" Bobby snapped back.

"How come you never said anything? And don't give me any crap about it not being our business."

Bobby glared up at the green eyed man. Sam just looked between the two, hands stuffed into his coat pockets.

"I never said anything before because I didn't think you'd ever find out."

"Well you thought wrong."

"Yea, I gathered that." Bobby rolled his eyes.

"Why haven't we ever met her before?" Sam finally spoke up.

Bobby gave him a sideways glance and then let out a heavy sigh. "After her mother died, the court took her and her brother away from me. They were sent down to Mississippi to live with my brother and his wife."

Both of the younger boys looked away shame faced. "I'm sorry Bobby." Sam muttered.

Bobby pretended he didn't hear it.

"You've got a son too?" Dean raised both eyebrows after a few moments.

Bobby just stared at him like he was a moron.

"Is he older or younger than her?" What a pointless question and Dean wasn't even sure why he wanted to know.

"He's almost a full six years younger than her. That would make him seventeen, her twenty-three."

Another long pause as Sam and Dean arranged themselves on a chair and the couch.

"I haven't seen them since Chris was a year old and Emma was seven." Bobby didn't know why he offered the information.

"Why'd they take them?" Dean asked.

Sam shot him a look that said shut up.

"Why do you think? You stab your wife to death and see if anyone would consider you fit to raise two small kids." Bobby growled at the younger man before he spun his chair around and headed toward the kitchen.


	5. Christian

**Christian **

Sam and Dean were plenty curious about Bobby's daughter, but out of respect they didn't hang around during the daylight hours while Emma was in town to give them some space. Bobby was thankful he didn't have to ask.

Emma spent a week in North Dakota getting to know her father again. He'd been very willingly to tell her anything she wanted to know about her mother. He made her seem less the monster that visited Emma on a regular basis in nightmares. A week was longer than she had intended to stay but it was a good week and totally worth it in her opinion. When it was time to head back south, she found herself a little reluctant to go but she had a life to get back to.

Her little car was packed and she stood next to it, Bobby next to her. She's come to say good bye.

"I'd like to keep in touch, if that's okay?" Her hands were stuffed in her back pockets. The sun glinted off the chrome bumper of the black Impala parked in front of her car. Its owners were back in the locked up salvage yard, Bobby had told her they were getting things in order for the place to open back up next week. He'd had to close shop for awhile after his accident. She still wasn't entirely clear on the details of that accident but she didn't push.

Bobby nodded. "I'd like that." Never in the last sixteen years had he hoped to have any part of his family back in his life again.

They exchanged phone numbers, and he told her to call for any reason if she needed it. At his urging she promised to call every night until she was back in New Orleans to let him know she was okay.

Then she surprised him by leaning down and putting her arms around his neck for a quick hug.

"I'm really glad I came Bobby." She didn't call him Daddy like she used to, but he'd settle for what he could get.

"I am too." Glad this wasn't one of those teary goodbyes like you saw in movies, and thankful she hadn't turned out to be one of those girls that were overly emotional and sensitive. He wouldn't have known how to have handled her if that had been the case.

He watched her drive away, feeling proud. His daughter had grown up to be a sensible, intelligent, and absolutely beautiful young woman on the inside and out. But the best part about it was she had come back to him. For the first time in a long time things didn't look as bleak as they normally did.

* * *

Emma kept her word and call each night on the way back to New Orleans. She spent most of the drive thinking about the things they talked about, she was so glad she had gone to see him. Part of her wanted to tell Chris about him, maybe offer to take him one day to see Bobby, but she didn't think that would be such a wise decision. She figured she'd let Chris grow up some more before reconsidering it.

She made it back to New Orleans early on a Tuesday. She'd already had called ahead to arrange to stay with a friend until she got her living arrangements worked out.

It didn't take her long to find a job, but finding an apartment proved a little more difficult. It was nearly August by the time she could find some place affordable. She kept in contact with Bobby, calling on a bi- monthly bases. Sometimes she'd hear voices in the background and knew the Dean and Sam she had briefly met were there. That gave her some reassurance, she didn't like the idea of Bobby being out there all on his own with no one to check up on him.

Her Aunt and Uncle continued to be clueless to her renewed relationship with her father and for that she was thankful. They were good people, but there was no way they'd ever understand why she'd gone back. Chris she rarely spoke to on the phone so it wasn't so hard to hide it from him. The lying by omission was completely worth it, because having gotten to know another side of her mother through Bobby the nightmares of that night weren't attacking her as often. There were weeks she could go without waking up in a cold sweat or choking on a silent scream.

Bobby continued on with his life, but looked forward to the phone calls twice a month that he got from Emma. If Dean and Sam were around they usually gave him some space so he could talk to her in peace.

Afterwards Sam would make it appoint to ask about how Emma was doing. He realized Bobby liked being in touch with his daughter again and he figured giving Bobby the chance to talk about her some brought her a little more into his life.

Dean would usually scowl and keep quiet when Emma was brought up, he couldn't help the resentment he felt over the lie by omission. He couldn't even explain and he tried not to exam it too much. Dean made a point to remind himself that none of this was her fault, and her phone calls were seeming to help Bobby's mood.

* * *

Emma had just shut her apartment door when her cell phone started ringing. A quick glance at the screen told her it was Chris, who normally didn't call. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Em." Her little brother said in a happy voice.

"Hi Chris."

"Are you busy?" She could hear a car horn and people talking in the background.

"No." She frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Yea, yea. I just need a favor."

"Of course what?"

"Could you tell me how to get to your apartment from Canal Street?"

A long pause as she processed that. "What?"

"I need to know how to get to your apartment from Canal Street."

"You're in New Orleans? Here in the city?" She asked in disbelief.

Chris chuckled. "Yep."

"How long have you been here?"

"Couple of hours I guess. I need a place to stay for a couple of weeks?"

"How did you get here? _Why _are you here?"

"I bummed a ride from a friend of a friend. And in case you really can't put two and two together Mardi Gras is next week."

She groaned at the thought of trying to run herd on Chris during Mardi Gras. "Where are you at?"

"Corner of Bourbon and Canal." She could just see the grin on his face.

"Oh my God." It was muttered.

"I told you Emma, we're closer than that. You don't have to call me God, you can just call me Chris."

She rolled her eyes at the misplaced humor, deciding she'd get him to her and sort everything out. "Okay. Stay on the phone with me and I'll walk you through it." She started giving him directions as she left her apartment to wait out front on the side walk for him. It took only about fifteen minutes before she saw him round the corner walking down the street with a book bag slung over his shoulder and an air of confidence she envied. Chris gave her one of his million dollar smiles as he stopped in front of her. He was a head taller than her now and had almost grown into the broad width of his shoulders.

"Does Aunt Sally know you're here?" She asked.

"Sort of." He said.

"Sort of?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm eighteen now." He said it like he that made him full grown.

"So?"

He rolled his eyes, but the smile didn't leave them. "Lighten up Em. This your place?" He moved past her, leaving her to follow after.

"I'm going to have to tell her, Chris." She warned. "They aren't going to want you running all over New Orleans during Mardi Gras. What if something happens to you?"

"What floor are you on?"

"Third. Are you listening to me?"

"Yea, sure."

"_Christian._" She realized she sounded like a nag. "Mardi Gras can be very dangerous, if you're not careful."

He laughed, unfazed by her. "That's why I don't have to worry. I'll have my big sister to look after me. Aunt Sally will let it slide because careful and trustworthy Emma will make sure nothing happens to reckless and wild Chris."

Emma new Chris was teasing her but for some reason it stung. A small, childish part of her wanted to ask him if she was so careful and trustworthy then why did she run off to North Dakota over the summer for a week without telling anyone. That's neither trustworthy or careful.

"Fine, but I'm still telling her." She muttered instead, as she stopped at her apartment door.

He shrugged. "It's like I always say; it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission."

She let them in and shut the door.

"You should try it some time, Em. Might find that you have more fun that way."


	6. Black Eyed Devil

"**Black Eyed Devil"**

Emma had opted not to drive to work. The streets were too crowded with the first day of the Mardi Gras celebrations in full swing. She kept her purse tucked securely under her arm and tried to maneuver around people. She was running late thanks to Chris hogging the bathroom.

A brightly dressed devil stepped in her path and she ran into him. Emma gave an automatic _I'm sorry_, as she backed up a step. He turned black eyes on her and the next thing she knew was that she was no longer in control.

SNSNSNSNSNSNSN

Bobby reached across the table and checked the ID on his ringing cell phone to see Emma's name on the screen. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he flipped it open.

"Hello?" He answered.

There was a pause.

"Hello?" He said again, in case she was getting bad reception.

"Is this Bobby Singer?" The voice was male.

Bobby snapped to attention. "Who's this?"

"I'm Chris, Emma's brother. Is this Bobby Singer?" The person on the other end of the line explained in a steady voice. All calm confidence.

Shocked Bobby didn't answer.

"Hello? Anyone there?"

"Yea."Bobby cleared his throat. "Yea, I'm Bobby Singer."

There was another pause. "Okay, good." There was a deep breath before Chris continued. "I need to ask you something and I need a straight answer."

"Okay." Bobby answered slowly, wondering where this was going, but amazed that he had his son on the phone. The last time he'd spoken to Chris his son was only able to say a handful of words and now he was forming full sentences.

"Do you know about paranormal stuff? Like ghost and demons and that sort of thing?"

Bobby almost panicked. "I don't know where you got that idea from-"

"I heard Aunt Sally and Uncle Derek talking about it when I was a kid and they thought I couldn't hear them. They said you were crazy and went around hunting stuff like you were a Ghostbuster or something. I need to know if that's true."

Bobby cringed, wondering if this was Chris was about to give him a piece of his mind. "Where's your sister?"

"I don't know!" It was explosive in a desperate way, but then he took another deep breath and got himself under control. "Look I need to know if you can help."

"Help? What's the matter?"

"It's Emma. I don't know what's wrong with her. She's not herself, and… and I found your number in her cell phone when I took it from her and I remembered the stuff my Aunt and Uncle had said and I was hoping you'd know what to do." The calm and collected front was quickly disintegrating and the desperation and fear were shining through.

"Okay, alright. Slow down and tell me exactly what's going on." Bobby said.

"I'm not telling you anything if you can't help. Now do you know anything about ghosts and demons?" Chris wasn't giving an inch.

Bobby got the impression something bad must have happened if the kid wouldn't just come right out and say it. Dread settled coldly in his stomach. His worry won out and he gave in. "Yes. I do. Now if you just tell me what's going on, I can help."

A sigh of relief. "Okay, good, because I don't know what to do."

"Talk to me." Bobby encouraged, wondering just what the hell was going on.

"I came down here a week before for the Mardi Gras and everything was fine. But then Emma didn't come home the first night during Mardi Gras, which isn't like her. She doesn't party. She wouldn't answer her phone and I tried talking to the police but its Mardi Gras and they're over worked." The words were coming out quickly, making Bobby listen carefully. "Besides she came home finally, it was in the middle of the day. And she…Oh God" Chris's voice was muffled for a moment like he had ran his hand over his face while talking. "She was covered in blood. Head to toe. I started freaking out. Asking her if she was okay and what happen to her and where she's been. She just laughed and said it was a party. But Em doesn't party. And all that blood…" Chris sounded sick from the memory.

"She took a shower; changed into clothes that there was no way were hers...they…my sister isn't into short skirts and stuff, you get what I'm saying? I tried to make her stay, but she wouldn't. I tried to physically stop her. I'm bigger than her and…her eyes went black right before I got thrown across the room. She's been back a couple of times since then, and it's been about the same thing each time. She's come back covered in blood every time. I don't think it's hers… There's just so much of it that… it's not hers."

Bobby's heart sank.

"I…Something's wrong and I need help." Chris finally muttered, sounding like the kid he was, all bravo gone. "I don't know how to help her."

It felt like panic and fear and worry were going to stop Bobby's heart as he realized his worst nightmare. He'd never seen this coming. Looking back he knew he should have; at least done something to prevent it.

"Can you help us?" Chris's voice was quiet but it had hope in it.

The _us_ gave Bobby pause. He heard all he needed to in that one word. The kid was throwing in his lot permanently with is sister for better or worse.

Bobby took a deep breath, fought back the emotions and _focused_. "I want you to listen carefully to me Chris and do exactly as I say. Is there any salt in the house?"

**A/N: Just out of curiosity how are ya'll liking Emma and especially Chris? I haven't seen too many stories with Bobby having a son so I want to know what you think. Leave me a review, I didn't get any for the last chapter and that worried me.**


	7. Just Salt

**A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews; they were very encouraging.**

"**Just Salt"**

Dean and Sam had just wrapped up a case in Texas, close to the Louisiana border, so Bobby called them. He wanted to get his kids safe as soon as possible and the Winchester boys could make there before he would, not to say he wasn't out the house less than an hour after having hung the with Chris and on his way to New Orleans.

SNSNSNSNSNS

They found the address Bobby had given with relative ease, early the next morning. Dean knocked loudly on the door marked c4.

"Who is it?" A muffled male voice.

"Dean and Sam Winchester. Bobby sent us." Dean answered back gruffly.

A long moment passed. Sam looked at Dean, who looked more annoyed than anything else. Sam couldn't figure out what Dean's deal was. When he had asked about it on the drive from Texas, Dean had denied it there being an issue.

Dean opened his mouth to say something to the person on the other side of the door, but stopped at the sound of a dead bolt sliding back. The door cracked open and a pair of green hazel eyes that were just _too _familiar looked up at them before the door opened wider.

Sam was surprised at how easily he could pick out similarities between the young man in front of them and Bobby. "Are you Chris?"

"Yea and you're Sam and Dean? Bobby said you could help." Chris said as he stepped back to let them in. The boy was mere inches shorter than Dean and almost as broad shouldered. There wasn't much left of the awkwardness of adolescences left in the kid's build. Sam didn't miss that he watched carefully as they passed over the unbroken salt line.

"I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean, and yea we're going to help." Sam offered a hand for a quick handshake. He wanted Chris to relax because the kid looked ready to throw them back out.

Dean didn't miss the scrutiny Chris was putting them under. There was no mistaking that they weren't trusted, and Dean decided the kid wasn't as dumb as he'd figured he'd to be. "Do you mind telling us what's going?"

"Didn't Bobby tell you?" Chris crossed his arms and raised an eye brow.

"He did, but we'd like to hear it from you." Sam clarified.

Chris nodded in understanding before quickly telling him what he'd told his father. The two brothers listened carefully to him.

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" He asked them. Bobby hadn't told him, he'd just given him a 'to do' list and told him not to leave the apartment.

"I'm guessing a demon." The older brother said bluntly.

Chris saw the look Sam shot Dean, as he processed that answer. Even though he'd had his suspicions about that sort of thing, hearing it scared the hell out of him.

"When was the last time she was here?" Sam asked.

"Two days ago." Chris answered. "She said she'd be back though." Then he listened to the older men talk about what to do, and when it was time start doing things he insisted to be apart it.

By the time all the devil traps were drawn and the salt lines were double checked, Dean had decided he liked Chris. The unexplainable resentment he had for Bobby and his family faded some. The kid didn't mind taking an order if it meant it helped his sister in the long run, and he was more than willing to help. However he did make some noise when Dean passed a sawed off to Sam.

"What are those for?" Chris looked up at the brothers. His body was tense as he crouched on the floor, paint brush still in hand as he finished up with the last devil's trap.

"Just in case." Dean answered.

"Like hell!" Chris snapped out as he stood up. "I don't care if you can't get the demon out; you're not shooting my sister."

Dean raised a brow.

"Easy." Sam held a hand up, and passed him a cartridge. "They're not bullets, its rock salt. They won't hurt her."

Chris carefully inspected what he'd been handed.

"Besides," Dean said. "Bullets would be useless. Shooting the demon wouldn't stop it."

Chris nodded once as he decided this was acceptable and hand the cartridge back to Sam. "Then do you have an extra gun?"

Dean pulled one out of the same duffle bag that the other two come out of, as Sam asked, "Do you know how to work it?"

"Yea, my Uncle Derek's been taking me hunting since I was ten. I know how to handle a gun."

"Show me." Dean tossed it to him, and was pleasantly surprised when Chris comfortably demonstrated his knowledge on the unloaded weapon.

"Good." Sam said as he passed him the ammunition of salt.

Chris might be comfortable with the gun, but he didn't intent to use it. The thought of aiming it at his sister made him sick to his stomach. Hours passed as they waited on Emmas return. Sam and Dean seemed confident in their plan and that made him feel better.

Bobby checked in a few times to see how they were doing as he drove down from North Dakota. Not for the first time Chris wondered why Emma had had his number in her cell phone. As far as he'd known she'd not seen him or heard from him seen they'd come to live with Uncle Derek and Aunt Sally. Obviously that hadn't been the case, and he couldn't help being angery that she'd been in contact with their father for God only knew how long without him knowing. He wondered if their Aunt and Uncle knew; if he was the only one left out, or if she'd kept this a secret from everyone. He decided that maybe he didn't know his mild mannered, well behaved big sister as well as he'd thought he had.

That felt like a betrayal and _that _hurt.

**A/N: Sorry for any mistakes in there, it doesn't matter how many times I check it, I always miss something. Please don't forget to leave a review, to at least let me know there are people reading this. Thanks.**


	8. Yea, Well You Talk Too Much

"**Yea, Well You Talk Too Much"**

The day after the brothers showed up Bobby got there, but no Emma. Sam let him in and Bobby's eyes went straight for the young man sitting on the dark purple couch across the room. Chris looked like he'd grown since the picture that Emma had given him had been taken.

Dean was taking a turn sleeping in the spare bedroom and Sam made some excuse about needing some fresh air.

Chris watched Bobby wheel in the living room area with mild surprise. The gruff looking, trucker hat wearing older man in a wheelchair wasn't what he'd imagined when he'd thought of the ghost hunter. For some reason he'd always pictured a Bill Murray look alike with a North Dakota accent.

"Chris?" Bobby stopped in front of the young man after Sam closed the door behind himself.

"Yea. You Bobby?" Chris was leaning forward, gun in his lap, elbows on his knees. The kid looked exhausted.

"I am." Bobby nodded once, not really sure what Chris knew.

"You're my father then?" Blunt and to the point, Chris was too tired and worried to care about pleasantries.

Bobby nodded slowly, as he studied his son. Burning the sight of him into his memory just in case he didn't get the opportunity again.

Chris stared back. "How do you know about this stuff then?" He used a hand to gesture to a devils trap that had been painted on the ceiling. One he was pretty sure Emma was going to be pissed about when this was over with. Her apartment was now a mine field of occult symbols and other great finds that he knew his sister would cringe at the thought of in her impeccably kept home. He'd been trying to keep things in order for her, something he'd not do normally, so things might be easier on her when this was all said and done.

Bobby opened his mouth to reply, but Dean walked in at just that moment.

"Good you're here." The green eyed man said to Bobby. "Tell the kid to he needs to get some sleep."

"I said I'm fine." Chris snapped, as he straightened up.

Dean raised a brow in Bobby's direction.

Bobby studied the youngest for a moment. "Look, we can talk after you get some shut eye. We'll even wake you up if she gets here, but you're not going to be nothing but an added danger if you're too tired to think." He said with the same tone he'd used on Sam and Dean when they were being hard headed.

Chris frowned at him, and it looked like Bobby was going to get an argument, but then the kid seemed to change his mind. "Fine."

Chris took the gun with him as he went into the room Dean had just vacated. He really hadn't had any sleep in the week since the first night Emma hadn't come home. If the situation had been different he'd have given Bobby hell for thinking he could tell him what to do, but as it were he was ready to crash.

Dean shook his head at the closed door, before turning to look at Bobby. "Where's Sam?"

"Said something about fresh air then left." Bobby muttered. "Any news on Emma?"

Dean shrugged as he took up the seat Chris had just left. "Nothing. She told Chris she'd be back. We've been keeping our ears and eyes open," he indicated the police radio and the local news channel on TV. "but we haven't got anything."

If Dean hadn't have known Bobby he would have missed the worry and fear that the older man was trying to cover up.

"But, hey, she said she'd been back."

"Yea, but demons lie, remember?" Bobby muttered as he looked out the window to his left.

Dean was saved from answering that when Sam walked back in. "I saw her, two blocks over. She was heading this way."

Dean got to his feet. "Alright, everything out of sight?" He asked as he turned around in a tight circle checking.

"Looks like." Bobby said, feeling not so ready.

Two minutes later Emma let herself in. She paused after shutting the door and with a smirk, studied the three men waiting on her.

Bobby understood what Chris had been saying about the blood. It was everywhere. In her hair, soaking the too tight top she had on, staining the skirt that could double as a belt, there were smears of it up and down her exposed legs; even the neck breaking heels on her feet even had some smudges on them. Bobby cringed at it and the clothing. For one it was barely covering her, and two even in Louisiana the weather was too cold for it.

"Oh, Bobby." The smirk turned into a full blown grin. "I knew you'd come." She sashayed farther into the room.

Bobby frowned at the familiarity the demon seemed to have with him. "What do you want?"

All three men held their breath as she stopped just outside of the devils trap covered by a rug.

"Aww…" The demon pouted, as its eyes went black and stuck out a hip to rest her bloody hand on. "Don't you remember me? Emma certainly does. In fact she remembers me better than her own mother." The demon laughed cruelly.

Bobby's jaw went slack as it dawned on him this was the demon that had destroyed his family years ago.

"You." He snarled at it.

"Me." It said, using his daughter's face to smile prettily at him.

"Leave Emma alone. This is between me and you."

The demon frowned, before looking hungrily at Dean, in a way that made the green eyed man's skin crawl. "Then why did you bring the Winchesters?" She looked back at Bobby. "Besides I'm having too much fun to just leave now. I mean look at me." She gestured to herself. "Little Emma grew up to be hot and you know what the best part is? No one sees it coming when little ol' me gets a hold of them. That makes it so much more fun."

"What do you want?" Bobby snapped at her.

Dean and Sam were tensely waiting for her to take one step more so they could start the exorcism, and things got more so when Chris came into view behind the Emma's short frame.

The demon rolled her eyes. "You know, I was just going to use her to kill you and Chris, then dump the body, but-" She lurched forward and fell face down on her hands and knees in the middle of the devils trap.

A screech of anger escaped her as she looked up to see Chris, from where he stood over her just outside the devils trap. "That wasn't very nice, Chris." She said through greeted teeth.

All three of the older men were a little impressed that he'd snuck up from behind without the demon's notice and pushed her into the trap.

"Yea, well you talk too much." Chris muttered as he stepped back.

Sam didn't waste time starting the Latin chant.

She glared up at Chris with black eyes that chilled him all the way to his soul, but he glared back. He was plenty freaked out when she started coughing and black smoke came out.

The demon fought the eviction but the Sam's chanting won out and after a few terrifying minutes all the black smoke left and Emma's collapsed to the floor.

Dean tested the unconscious Emma with some holy water, but nothing happened. "Well, all things considered, that was kind of easy."

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Now leave a review!**


	9. The Hangover

**The Hangover**

**A/N: I obliviously stole the title from the movie.**

Chris snatched up the small blanket Emma kept on the back of the sofa and covered her as much as he could with it.

"Emma." He gave her shoulder a gentle shake as he knelt beside her, trying to wake her. "Em, wake up." He left off the pitiful please he almost added. He wanted her up and okay and being the big sister she was good at being.

Sam moved in and put two fingers where her pulse would be.

"Is she…?" Bobby trailed off and held his breath.

"She's alive." Sam nodded, relieved.

"There's a lot of blood there, are we sure none of its hers?" Dean asked, eyeing the bloody limbs sticking out from beneath the blanket.

Chris shook his head. "I don't think so." He glanced up at Dean, before trying to wake his sister with another shake. "C'mon Emma."

"Could be exhaustion." Sam offered. "Who knows how hard that demon was on her body."

Bobby nodded, but didn't say anything, feeling sick at the thought.

Dean agreed with Sam, and they tossed ideas back and forth about how to handle it. Chris listened and Bobby threw in a few suggestions. None of them noticed Emma had come back around until she was pushing herself up into a sitting position.

"What's going on?" She asked; head dense, voice scratchy, body feeling like she'd been hit by a Mardi Gras float.

"You're awake!" Chris said a little too loudly, making her flinch.

"Are you alright? How do you feel?" Sam said in a much more subdued tone; a steadying hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know." She mumbled, her mind not quite working at full speed yet. It felt as if she'd had too much to drink. She slowly glanced around at the men looking at her. Chris to Sam to Bobby to Dean and by the time she made it back to Chris she knew she had a problem.

"Oh my God." She said in horror. "I'm so sorry Chris." She didn't know what was going on but she knew she'd been found out-Chris and her father were in the same room together. Not that she knew how that had happen exactly.

Her little brother frowned at her. "For what?"

She glanced back up at Bobby, then back at Chris. "I was going to tell you, just not until you were a little older-" She reached up a hand to grab his arm and frowned at it. She looked down at herself. "What's all over me?"

"Um…" Chris stuttered from next to her.

"How about you go and wash up then we'll talk about everything afterward, okay?" Bobby said from her left. He figured it would be easier to take once all the blood had been washed away.

Emma nodded thinking that would be a good idea and with Sam and Chris's help she got to her feet. She shuffled slowly to the bathroom by herself. Bobby and Chris both were watching her with worried expressions.

Bobby wasn't sure what he was going to tell her or Chris for that matter. Part of him knew he could give Emma a half truth, and she'd accept it. Not to say she'd believe it, she was smart, but he doubted she'd fight him for the full story. Chris on the hand wouldn't settle, he'd want it all.

The hot water helped bring the world back into focus for Emma. Her mind cleared and she became more aware of how awful she felt. Then she realized what she was washing off herself and franticly checked herself over for where all the blood had come from. It was a slow sick realization that dawned on her as she watched the blood and water swirl away into the drain that it wasn't hers. For an unbearable moment she lost it.

Emma dropped the shampoo bottle she'd been holding and the noise brought her back. She felt sick but she refused to breakdown, at least not until she understood what was going on. She stayed in the shower until all the hot water was gone and nearly scrubbed her skin raw before she got out. By the time she was dried off and dressed it felt like a week had passed since entering the bathroom. All eyes watched her, as she walked into the living room. She noticed things she'd missed when she woke up. Strange symbols were painted, _painted!, _on her walls and floors. There were guns and military duffle bags strewn about, and take out boxes littering her coffee table with a few beer bottles placed randomly about.

Chris stood up when he saw her, concern written all over his face. Bobby looked just as worried. Dean and Sam were watching her with careful eyes.

"How do you feel?" Bobby asked. He didn't like the look on her face.

Emma didn't answer as she continued to look around her apartment wondering where she had been to end up covered in blood and to have missed this happening to her place.

"I want to know what happen." She finally said.

Dean raised an eyebrow at how calm she was acting. Most people who had been possessed didn't react so well if they survived; neither did people who woke up covered in blood. He was betting she'd crack when they told about the demon thing.

Bobby indicated the couch with a jerk of chin. "Come sit down. This is going to take awhile."

Emma walked over and took a seat, Chris taking one next to her. Dean pulled up a chair from the kitchen table and straddled it backwards; Sam took the oversized cushioned chair on the other side of Chris.

Bobby heaved a tired sigh. He'd never thought he'd actually have to say this to one of his children. "You were possessed Emma."

Both her eyebrows shot up. "Possessed?"

Bobby nodded, but she didn't look convinced.

"It's true." Chris nodded too. "You threw me across the room, your eyes were black, you-"

"My eyes were what?" She asked, making sure she heard him right, as her mind went back to nightmares of her mother.

"Black. They were both solid black."

"That happens usually with demons." Sam explained.

Emma snapped her attention back to Bobby, questioning look on her face. He understood what she wanted to know. He nodded sadly. "The night your mother died she was possessed."

"What?" Chris looked at him, stunned. "That's how you knew it, isn't it?"

"It's not like I was on a first name bases with it." He snapped defensively.

Dean smirked, and Sam shot his brother a look.

"But yea," Bobby adjusted his hat. "That's how I knew it. It was the one who had possessed your mother that night."

"You're serious?" Emma started at Bobby. "You really think-"

"It's what happened." Chris cut her off. "At least it's what happened to you. I don't remember anything about Mom." He shrugged off the last part.

"Possessed?" She tried the word out again, still having not wanting to accept it.

"Yep." Dean said. "You don't remember any of it?"

She looked at him and shook her head.

"That's probably for the best anyways." He gave her a bored look; there was something about Emma that just rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe it was the obvious good-girl image she had, or the way he'd found out about her, he didn't know, but he just couldn't bring himself to like her.

"Well, what did I do? Where did all that blood come from?"

"_You_," Bobby cut in. "Didn't do anything. Whatever happen was that demons doing. Not yours."

"Okay, but what about the blood?" She pressed.

"Don't know." Chris answered. "You kept coming home like that."

"How long was I like that?" Her questions were coming quicker.

"About a week."

She felt her jaw go slack before she snapped it shut and turned to Bobby. "Why are you here?" She shook her head. "Sorry. That came out wrong. Did you come because I was possessed? How'd you find out?"

Bobby answered her questions, with the others cutting in from time to time. Between the four of them they managed to get the whole story out.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review :)**


	10. Late Night Talks and Walks

**Late Night Talks and Walks**

Hours later, Bobby had laid down in the spare room for some much needed rest, while Dean and Sam went out for a few hours. Emma was coming to terms with everything she'd learned, only believing it because Chris had promised her it was the truth. Not that she thought that Bobby or the others would lie to her, she just trusted her little brother's judgment.

Chris placed a slightly burnt grilled cheese in front of her, then took a seat across from her at the table. He was being uncharacteristically helpful to her, making her wonder how bad the situation had been.

She was starved but wasn't sure she could stomach anything. For his sake she took a small bit out of the sandwich.

"You lied." Chris stared at her, accusation written across his face. "You told me you hadn't seen him since we came to live with Sally and Derek. You said you were asleep the night it happened."

Yea, she defiantly wasn't going to be able to eat anything. Emma lowered the sandwich back down to her plate, trying to think of how to answer.

"When you asked about him, that was the truth. I just recently got in touch with him." She frowned, thinking. "And as for that night, I didn't want you to know about it. I didn't want to talk about or remember it."

"You have nightmares over it." He stated flatly.

She narrowed her eyes on him. "How do you know that?"

Chris leveled her with a look. "You used to scream when you were a kid, Em, it was pretty hard to _not_ know. I asked Sally why you had them; she told me it was because of what happened. I mean, hell, you still use a night light."

She looked down guilt and embarrassed, and after a moment asked. "How did you know to call Bobby?"

He shrugged. "I had heard Derek and Sally talking about him when I was a kid a couple times. They said he was some kind of Ghostbuster. When I looked through your phone contacts I saw his name and it had a North Dakota area code."

"Oh." That was all she could come up with.

"How long have you been talking to him?"

She sighed and pushed her plate away. "Over the summer I went up to North Dakota looking for him. I spent a week there."

"Were you just not going to tell me?" Chris asked angrily, but she saw the hurt he was trying not to show.

"I was, just not right away. I wanted to make sure he wasn't some lunatic before I told you."

"God , Emma, I'm not some kid you need to protect all the time." He snapped, frustrated. "If anything you're the one that needs it."

That stung. She smiled bitterly. "Thanks."

It was his turn to look guilty. "It's just you've always tried to buffer me from the world, always cautioning me, telling me about how dangerous it could be."

She didn't respond, knowing he was right. She didn't know how to explain that after that night, her world had been ripped apart and smashed back together; that she'd needed to make sure that he stayed safe because he was all she had left.

"Tell me what really happened that night." He demanded, looking her straight in the eye.

Emma wished she kept something stronger than coffee in her apartment. A couple shots of bourbon would go along away at a time like this. She took a deep breath. "I woke up because I'd heard you screaming. I found Mama trying to drown you in the bathtub. I tried to stop her and I guess that woke Daddy up." Because that's what Bobby had been back then, her Daddy. "He got her to let you go, I got you out of the tub and we went and hide." She didn't tell him that she had almost drowned at their mothers hands too, or that Bobby had to stab their mother in front of her to save them. Chris didn't need to know everything, despite what he thought.

Chris studied his sister through new eyes. She was small, dark haired and scared of her own shadow most of the time. He'd never understood her; she'd always been so well behaved, so serious. She'd barely dated through school, not that she wasn't pretty enough to have her pick because he'd seen how guys looked at her, but she'd been too focused on her career goals to pay attention. Now he saw what he'd been missing all this time, the fear. She'd let it shape her life.

When he didn't say anything for a long time she gave up. "I'm going to bed." Emma said as she stood and left the room.

Minutes ticked passed as he thought and finished off the grilled cheese she'd left behind. He'd been up for days with no real sleep, and it didn't seem like he was going to be getting much that night. He threw on his coat on and went out for a walk.

The night was cool and it was late; he could hear Emma's voice in his head warning him from walking around New Orleans so late at night by himself, but after what had happened a regular human just paled incomparison. His head was spinning with new knowledge and unanswered questions as he tried to sort everything out.

By the time he made it back to the apartment, Sam was leading an inebriated Dean up the stairs. Chris lent Sam a hand as he held the apartment door open for the brothers. Dean got the couch, Sam took the recliner and Chris made himself a pallet on the floor. He fell to sleep with the even breathing and soft snores of the Winchester brothers.


End file.
